Welcome back everyone!
For those of you who have been following along, you know that I was a bit uncertain about this “island hopping” tour, but it was actually really amazing. Several companies do something similar, but mine was organized through The Wilderness Phuket (Tel 0835565006221) and the tour itself was directly managed by Andaman Surprise (Tel 081-4266623). In my particular case, everything was setup by my guide on Day 5, Maria Wanpen Ngan-khang. Our main guide for the day was Tuktuk, but he had an impressive team of several people. I think that Maria had worked out some sort of a discount, so for the two of us (Elisabet and I) the cost was only 3400 THB ($89.85 USD) but it definitely would have been fair for it to be more expensive, so even if they quote you a bit more, I would still encourage you to go if you can’t get a better price.
We were picked up at Elisabet’s house in Koh Kaew at 9:00 AM sharp and taken to the meeting point where they had plenty of snacks and drinks available while we were waiting for other participants to arrive. All of this was included in the cost of the tour.
We waited maybe 30-45 minutes for everyone else to arrive, but it was a comfortable spot and we could also walk around in the immediate area, so it did not feel like unpleasant downtime. This also gave people the opportunity to either change clothes or even buy some extra reasonably priced swim/snorkel gear in the shop area where we were waiting. The area itself was very beautiful.
I opted to buy some swim slippers for 400 THB ($10.57 USD), since I have “baby feet” and knew that I would be uncomfortable walking on rough or hot sand. Then we received some basic instructions and the group was divided into two so that there would not be too many people in a single group. I didn’t count the actual number of participants in my group, but I think it was between 15 and 20; certainly, it never felt like there were too many people as there was plenty of space. We then headed to our boat.
I had been expecting something MUCH simpler, so I was extremely impressed by the boat and also very appreciative. The seating was comfortable and the tarp helped ensure that we did not bake in the sun while travelling around from island to island.
The first “stop” at 11:35 AM was viking cave. We were not allowed to actually enter, but evidently there are 2000 year old paintings inside as well as some sort of special bird. Even from the distance it was impressive.
I didn’t fully understand, but I think that originally the organizers had planned for us to do snorkeling somewhere else, but they had received word that the area there was very crowded, so they put down anchor and told us that we would do snorkeling here. For those of us who were not strong swimmers, they suggested that we use life jackets since we would be in the water over 30 minutes and there would be nothing available to hang onto nor stand on given the depth of the water. Both Elisabet and I decided to go with the jackets, even though the sea was very calm.
I had been diving once before in Goa, and while I had liked it, had not been especially impressed with what I saw. However, I was certainly game to try. Incidentally, for those concerned about hygiene, we were each given new mouthpieces to use; although, I hope they were simply well-sterilized and then reused since they seemed like very sturdy, potentially costly bits of equipment.
Unfortunately, I had no way of taking any pictures, but it was absolutely amazing. The best was I can describe it, is that it was like swimming in a giant tropical aquarium. The variety of fish was stunning, as was the coral, even though much of it was bleached. As the water was crystal clear, it was easy to see all the contours of the nearby seabed as well as the fish, even though due to the life vest I was of course not able to dive down further to get a closer look. There was one type of blue fish which I would say was the size of a large trout which kept drawing my attention; it had several shades of blue, as well as a bit of green and yellow. Once I got a bit more used to breathing through the snorkel tube, I was having an amazing time. Words really do fail me, but this was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
We continued with snorkeling until about 12:20 PM. Despite how much I liked it, I think this really was the right amount of time. Even with the life vest, moving around in the water could be a bit tiring, and many people of didn’t have the extra support.
We then continued onwards until 12:35 PM where we had another stop. I forgot to ask where we were, but based on the map, I guess it was probably Pileh cove. Wherever it was, it was very beautiful.
There we had the option of going out on traditional wooden long boats which had an additional cost, paddling around in a clear acrylic rowboat, taking a try doing paddle boarding, more swimming, or just lazing around on the boat while appreciating the beautiful surroundings. We decided to just hang out on the boat and chat, also taking advantage of the plentiful included drinks and snacks whenever we wanted. We were there until 1:07 PM, which again, seemed like the perfect amount of time. Then we were off again.
We arrived to Maya bay at 1:15 PM. There it is prohibited to swim, but it was nice to walk around, and it was okay to wade in the water. This area had been completely closed to the public for many years due to excessive tourism, much which was the result of it being the main filming site of the movie “The Beach”. Even without the popularity of the movie, it was easy to see how the place had been overrun with tourists due to its amazing beauty. I was happy that the Thai government had been willing to take a stand on the conservation and recuperation of the site and even now was still strictly limiting which activities were permitted.
We were back on the boat at 2:05 PM and then had a short trip to Phi Phi island, arriving at 2:17 PM. Here was where we would have our buffet lunch and if time permitted, wander around until 3:20 PM.
From 3:20 – 3:27 we did a short jaunt to monkey beach. The name is of course self-explanatory.
We only stayed there until 3:36 PM and then continued onwards to Khai Mai island.
We arrived at 4:30 PM. The primary function of this island seems to be that of “island bar”. So far, it was by far the most stereotypical representation of Phuket area beach life which I had seen. Still, for one hour it was fine, especially since our tour organizers setup a table with multiple drinks and snacks which had no additional cost. Of course, many opted to buy alcohol and rent one of the beach chairs, but for the most part Elisabet and I were just content to wander around a bit, even though there really wasn’t far to go. Supposedly this island had lots of cats, and I was eager to see the same, but in total I only saw five, and none of them particularly drew my attention. Despite the later afternoon hour, the sun was now quite intense, and the beach also had lots of broken coral and shells which made it uncomfortable to walk without special slippers like those I had bought earlier. Still, we were only there an hour, and like everywhere else we had been, it was still in its own way a very picturesque place to hang out for a bit while on vacation.
At 5:30 PM we headed back to where we had started from in Phuket. The last boat trip was only 28 minutes, and with the stunning cloud formations and the beautiful sunset, it was a perfect ending to our outing.
Travels with Jay 